#sure dude he ain’t your friend he’s your boyfriend that’s why you spent 7 hours talking about stuff in the red rocks that apparently was

[nextstopwonderland]

“Bryan has found that I definitely respond well to negative motivational tactics.” - Wheeler Yuta for Pro Wrestling Illustrated

[ofhvney]

he’s been here before. he’ll be here again, he’s sure, at some point in his lifetime. you can take the boy out of the mob, but you can’t take the mob out of the boy, or something like that. either way, his shoes tread the same path they have plenty of times before, skipping stairs on the way up to the police department door. he’s ten minutes late, iced coffee in hand, and he nods to the secretary at the front desk like they’re old friends. “ let ‘em know i’m here ? ” he requests, flashing her a smile, and she picks up the phone. elaine grant and michael forrester emerge not long after, greeted by the sight of a murder suspect draped haphazardly over three chairs in the waiting room. 

“ alright, ” he sighs dramatically, sitting up and snagging his coffee off the table next to him. he glances between the two officers, as if they need his approval to carry this charade out. “ let’s get this show on the road. ”

A MESS, FEATURING: @the-great-and-wonderful-oz, @bclthczcros, @ofcelesticls, @figurchead, @rosaliamorais.

part one ( you )

do you have any criminal history ? anything big or small that you want to make us aware of ?

“ y’all have a file. can’t you read ? ” he’s off to a great start, petulant look on his face as he waits for an answer. the only thing he gets in response is a prompt to answer the question, cooperate, blah blah blah. boring. he’d liked it better when he’d been able to drunkenly joke around with the beat cops back in the holding cell.

“ public drunkenness, drunk & disorderly, and assault. ” he offers them a grin, then, all sharp white teeth, the wolf greeting little red riding hood. “ but all charges have been dropped. so do with that what you will. elaine, go ahead and jot it down, i know you want to. ” he leans forward, tipping his chin as if trying to spy on her notepad. “ say, would you mind using a sharpie or something ? that pen’s too light for me to see. i kinda felt like this could be a group project, you know ? collaboration. ” he purses his lips at the silence he gets in response, then sits back once more. “ damn, never mind. solo it is. ”

how have you spent the few weeks back at college ? what have they been like ?

“ does this question ever go over well ? this feels like the kind of question that doesn’t go over well. ” he rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “ it’s been shitty. i was minding my own business, trying to start my senior year off, actually attempting to go to class for once. but daisey rutherford just had to go and get herself killed. now we’re all huddled up in our rooms from dusk ‘til dawn, trying our very best not to put targets on our foreheads. ” he raised one brow. “ ain’t college a dream ? ”

part two ( daisey )

how did you know miss. rutherford ? what was the nature of your relationship ? 

“ not good, which i’m sure is why you dragged my ass in here. ” he sighs, tipping his chair back on its two back legs. “ she stole from me freshman year. some... really important documents, things that weren’t the type of thing i’d appreciate anyone touching, much less someone i barely knew. i was pissed, obviously, since she stole from me. classic rich girl move, you know ? she’s got all the fucking money in the world— stop looking at me like that, we’re all adults here, i can fucking curse. anyway. sorry, she had all the money in the world, and she still decided to poke around and pilfer my shit. i was rightfully angry, and we’ve never gotten along since. i generally tried to avoid her, but this campus is small, so i’d still see her sometimes. i mostly just talked shit if i ever ran into her. ” honey watches elaine’s pen move across her notepad, and he can practically see MOTIVE flashing across the paper like a neon sign. which, he feels, is catastrophically unfair. even in death, daisey’s making his life harder. 

do you remember where you were the night daisey went missing ? if so, where were you ? what were you doing ? who were you with ?

honey sucks his teeth for a moment, knowing the answer but not quite wanting to admit to it. his eyes dart between the two officers, their eyebrows raised expectantly, and he lets out a sigh. “ well, i sure hope this is a no-judgement zone, ” he says dryly, folding his hands in front of him on the table. “ i was at oz lamar’s party, same as i’m sure most people were. i spent the beginning of the night chatting with some classmates, playing some drinking games, that sort of thing. i then went to the upstairs bathroom and hooked up with my boyfriend — well, he wasn’t my boyfriend at the time, but anyway — zar ros. balthazar. we came back downstairs separately, and a little while later i headed back upstairs with my best friend, kiki kibler. kiera. ” 

their gazes continue to bore into him, as if to say and what did you do up there ? 

“ i hooked up with her, too, alright ? jeez. can’t a guy get laid in peace ? ” honey rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair once more. “ we came back down about an hour later, and i spent the rest of the night with kiki. i left at around 2:30. ”

did you notice anything strange about daisey’s behavior the night she went missing ? did you notice anything suspicious about anyone else you ran into that night ? 

he’s about to answer, say some bullshit about what am i, her keeper ? when he remembers the interaction they’d had that night. though it’s been a while since the party, he can recall the look on her face as clear as day. “ yeah, actually. she was being all... paranoid and weird, ” honey says, frowning. “ i don’t know why, i mean— like i told you, we sure as hell weren’t friends. but she seemed super freaked out about something. she even asked me to switch jackets with her, which was... so fucking weird. obviously her shit didn’t fit me, so i just tied it around my waist. i looked like a fucking dork, but whatever. i didn’t even think to say no, you know ? i was kind of caught off guard by the fact that she seemed so different than usual. even when i’d talk shit to her face, she was usually pretty composed. kind of a bitch. but that night she seemed... freaked out. like she was looking over her shoulder for something. so... that was definitely strange. ” he thinks for another moment, searching his brain. “ other than that, not really. daisey was the only one i saw acting odd. ”

where were you the night daisey’s body was recovered ?

“ at home, high as a fucking kite. my roommate was probably around somewhere. otto ballantyne ? ” he stares at them for a long moment, as if he’s playing some strange game of chicken. honey’s the one to break first, laughing loudly in the small room. it echoes off the walls. “ i’m joking. jesus, can you imagine ? i don’t do drugs, officers, ” he says sweetly, and it’s clear that he’s lying, but what does he care ? “ i was at home, though. i got pizza delivered. meat lovers. you can double check me on that. ” a jab at zar, for ignoring him the entire day after he’d left that voicemail. it feels stupid, now. 

how familiar are you with the ashmont woods ? have you been there often ? have you recently ventured out here ? if so, why ?

“ familiar enough. ” he shrugs, as if the answer is obvious. until nate’s body had been found there, it’d been as innocuous a place as any to him. “ i mean, they’re right there. there’s some nice paths to take a walk or run on, if you’re into that sort of thing. i go there sometimes to clear my head, but i haven’t been there recently — other than to participate in the search party. ”

part three ( the investigation )

do you have feelings towards the investigation ? any comments ?

he shrugs again, indifference clear in the lines of his expression. “ no offense, but i don’t really care, ” he answers, reaching out for his coffee. he takes a long, slow sip, pushing the limits of the officers’ annoyance just for the sake of annoying them. “ like, i’m glad you’ve got something exciting to do for once, but i just want to, like, live my fucking life. not being able to go out past 7 makes me feel like a goddamn mormon or something. and they’re extinct. ” he shakes his head, seemingly indifferent to the matching, confused looks on their faces. “ i hope you catch the dude or whatever, but do it quick. i’m tired of this already. ”

do you have any people you feel the police should look into ? please, let us know who and why.

his first thought is: the boyfriend usually did it, but his own fucking roommate is— was— daisey’s fiancé. he doesn’t think otto’s capable of this, not even for the drama of it all. “ i have no idea, ” he says, and it rings true. “ i’d say maybe an ex of some kind, but... beyond being antagonistic toward each other, i didn’t really know daisey. i don’t want to point fingers at people in her life without really knowing what was going on. ”

part four ( weekly events — search party )

were you part of the search party in the woods on october 15th to 17th ? if yes, what did you find ? 

“ i was. ” that answer is simple. the next, not so much. what did you find. honey loses focus for a moment, his mind blurring the lines between every time he’s found something like he did that day in the woods. he snatches at wisps of bodies, some more battered than others, some more... unrecognizable than others. finally, his mind catches on the feeling of his hand on alice’s shoulder, warm and solid, and he startles back to the present. “ nate ballantyne, ” he answers, clearing his throat. “ i found nate ballantyne’s dead fucking body. i already answered questions about that. look at your goddamn file if you want more details. ”

in the week that the four students were missing, did anyone’s behaviour strike you as odd or suspicious?

he settles them with a look, impatient now that his iced coffee is gone. “ i’ve been too busy being locked up in my apartment for half the day to really interact with my classmates all that much. i didn’t notice anything amiss, but i wasn’t really spending a lot of time out and about. i was mostly at home with my boyfriend. ”

what is your connection to the four missing students ?

their faces flash through his mind: libby’s, danny’s, nate’s... one of them dead. his thoughts only stop once they reach rosa, picturing the way she rolls her eyes at him, goodnatured and usually followed by an exasperated smile. he can’t help the selfish flash of gratitude that she came out of this ordeal alive. “ i’m good friends with rosa morais. rosalia. but the other three... ” he trails off, shaking his head. “ i didn’t know them well. acquaintances at best. ”

do you know of anyone ( or anything ) that could lend to the motive of the person who killed  nathaniel ballantyne?

“ no, ” he says, and it’s the truth. daisey had much more obvious answers — she had plenty of enemies, himself included. but nate ? sure, he’d been... kind of pretentious, but honey had never gotten the impression that anyone truly disliked or hated him for it. “ sorry, i didn’t know him too well. that’s probably a better question for oz lamar. they were close. ” 

his eyes dart back and forth between them, and he waits for another question that never comes. elaine is still writing on her damn notepad.

“ are we done here ? ” he says, breaking the silence. “ i think we’re done here. ” he pushes back his chair abruptly and turns to leave, abandoning his coffee cup. they can clean up after him, for all he cares. all he wants right now is to go the fuck home.